All of the Above Podcast

This Week: Sigh… how did we get here? More than half of young people in America are gambling, including more than 40% of teens aged 13-17. Manuel shares a story about an encounter with a student this week who begged to use their phone in class to check on a bet. Plus, we send our love and respect to the real ones we lost this week - Dolores Huerta, and Sir Patrick Stewart. Then, we throw all the appropriate shade at US Sec of Education Linda McMahon for her $43,000 worth of new office furniture at the USDOE’s new office she...

This Week: A new data set from orgs that study the impacts of heat and lack of canopy coverage on school campuses sheds light (no pun intended) on the extent of a long-standing problem with California’s public schools. Extreme heat, lack of tree canopy coverage, and the combination often being present in the communities serving the most marginalized communities across the state. And, we check back in on the rising, and spreading, student-led protests across Europe, now popping off in Greece, as well as France and Albania. What does it mean to be a student, or an educator, in...

This Week: Remember Betsy Devos?  Remember how she used her power back in 2020 to make it easier for predatory men to get away with sexual harassment and assault on college campuses? Well, we do, and we’re sure that has absolutely nothing to do with what happened at Cornell. And, for our main story today, we dive into grades. Specifically, a fascinating story out of Indianapolis where the district has reversed (sort of) its pandemic era policy banning zero grades for failing assignments. What’s fair when it comes to grading? Do grades even matter? Is there a better way w...

This Week: Nearly 2000 high schools across France are closed amidst a wave of student protest that has taken over the nation. Demanding change to dilapidated conditions of school facilities, extreme heat and cold, leaky ceilings, exposure to toxic chemicals in aging buildings, staffing shortages, and more, the student protests have drawn an expanding set of the French population into a larger movement for change.  Of course, violent police crackdowns are now capturing the eyes of the world as more than 5000 students have been arrested, and students have lost body parts, including eyes, limbs, and sustained brutal injuries from police a...

This Week: Few things have gotten more people in America to have a (hopefully) substantive conversation about the core issue of segregation in American public education than has this phenomenal article by the legendary Nikole Hannah Jones in the NY Times magazine this week. In the nation’s largest school system, in a city boasting with pride about its democratic socialist mayor and its proud tradition of progressivism, lurks one of the most deeply segregated school systems in America. And, it is much more alike the rest of the nation in this regard than perhaps any of us would li...

This Week: Who knew the plastics industry was infiltrating K-12 science curricula with lessons that help kids do things like pretending to be an employee of Dow Chemical and building a better plastic bag, or understanding the ubiquitous and positive nature of plastics in our lives?  Yeah, it’s happening. Also, a sad, if not shocking piece in the Hechinger Report calls out persistent disproportionality in Black boys being retained a year in school, even as overall rates of retention fall across the country. What’s at play here, and how do we solve this seemingly intractable issue? Manuel and J...

This Week: It has been a busy few weeks of stories in education, so we begin with a lightning round of headlines covering everything from a hero teacher saving 900 students in Nepal, to the Catholic Bishops in Florida telling the attorney general to kick rocks. Then, we dig deep into the big news out of the nations’ two largest school systems - NYC and LA - which have both taken bold moves to restrict generative AI tolls and usage in schools, as well as screen time during the school day, especially for younger learners. But, some folks are saying th...

Today on AOTA Shorts: Varsity Tutors for Schools, one of the nation’s largest virtual tutoring providers, has abruptly closed up shop. Citing a lack of evidence of effectiveness, it appears their district partners had begun seeking other providers. As we emerge from the pandemic era, where billions in additional federal funding for education sparked a wave of high-dose tutoring and other ed tech based service providers, schools and districts are now forced to grapple with both costs and the harsh reality of whether these providers were able to deliver results. Varsity, it appears, did not. But the closure of...

Today on AOTA Shorts: A group of families and education advocates in Massachusetts join a growing number of lawsuits challenging school segregation across the country.  Since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, America begrudgingly inched forward in its efforts to integrate public schools, and then almost immediately began backtracking on that promise systematically. Today schools are more segregated than they’ve been in decades, and with entrenched racial housing patterns, and a federal government that has weaponized the civil rights infrastructure against us, the problem is clear, but the solutions are not. What did we gain and...

Today on AOTA Shorts: Citing a lack of evidence showing any systemic pattern of antisemitism, a federal judge dismissed a Trump admin lawsuit against Harvard University. This is the latest in a growing number of legal losses the administration and its allies are experiencing as legal scrutiny is applied to their weaponized allegations of antisemitism, their fascist attempts to constrain free speech and suppress ideas they don’t like, and their manufactured hysteria about DEI. It’s one step in the right direction, with many more steps to go to undo the chilling effects of their policy agenda in high...

This Week: Turns out if you invest resources equitably to meet the needs of students and communities who have been systematically underserved, you do see results. Shocker. In Los Angeles, the district’s Black Student Achievement Plan has faced racist legal challenges and the doom of an impending budget crisis. And yet, state test scores show the achievement gap for Black students is shrinking. And, in Texas a group of faculty have sued the Texas A&M System over a dystopian policy banning “advocacy” of race and gender ideology, whatever the hell that even means. The policy, which is a clea...

This Week: There’s a lot going on… and it’s a hot mess.  Tuskegee University, one of the pillars of HBCUs in America, announces a new dress code that prevents students from wearing things like duy-rags, bonnets, and bedroom shoes in classes, dining halls, and other academic settings. The administration says it’s part of the school's “responsibility to prepare its students for professional environments after graduation.” A small school district in Western NY state, serving an Indian reservation community, aborts a plan to use life-like, AI powered robots in the classroom, built by a company best known for making se...

This Week: A superintendent in Massachusetts has put out a fascinating take on a revision to the ubiquitous Bloom’s Taxonomy, the helpful tool which has defined orders of thinking for decades in education. In the age of AI, he claims, the hierarchical nature of Bloom’s no longer reflects the more complex arc of thinking students will do in a world where humans think with AI. It’s an interesting take, and solidly sidesteps all of the most perilous ramifications of the rush to bring AI into the classroom.  Plus, the confederates in charge of the federal government made it...

This Week: The Romeo Community School District in Michigan has issued educators a list of 32 phrases that are pre approved for us on classroom posters. The phrases are, perhaps excruciatingly, unoffensive. Classics like: be yourself, you belong here, you matter, and lift others up, make the list. But, not coincidentally, absent from the list are any phrases making note of any identity markers, or that have become synonymous with movements for LGBTQ visibility in schools. The district claims this policy, which would require teachers to go through 4 layers of committee and district approval before using other language on posters, i...

Today on AOTA Shorts: The price of housing has grown so astronomical in some parts of the country, like much of California, that districts are turning to a strategy of building their own housing in an effort to attract and retain teachers. Also, in some areas, community groups are organizing to solve this problem internally. In places like the Bay Area where a 1 bedroom apartment can cost $3500/month or more, having access to more affordable housing can be an important lifeline for educators and other public employees. But, who wants to live at work, so to speak? And what...

Today on AOTA Shorts: As America turns 250 years old, the cold ripple effect of the right wing ascension in American politics is being felt in classrooms across the country, with more than 6 in 10 teachers worrying about the possible ramifications of teaching the truth about American history. Despite this hostile climate, and the potential threats they face, educators persist with bringing the important, critical questions about this nation to the classroom for discussion. In some ways, it’s a shame this milestone happens at a time of year when classrooms are shuttered, and students are left to navigate a chaotic re...

Today on AOTA Shorts: For those in the AOTA family with kids, this comes as no surprise, but the process of finding good summer care for children can be cumbersome to navigate, unnecessarily complex, and insanely expensive. A new piece in the 19th profiles American moms who handle these complex arrangements for their children, and the real costs of providing summer care. It reveals the extent to which families are burdened, and children receive vastly unequal access to enrichment, learning, and meaningful developmental experiences over the summer months. And even though this is outside of the purview of school...

This Week: In what can only be understood as a shocker, new survey data shows the vast majority of Americans of nearly all demographic groups support undocumented students having access to public education. With some variation across groups, this goes for all ages, races, and even religious groups. In fact the only group that had less than 50% agreement with this idea was Trump voters, which I mean, is what it is. Does this mean there’s hope for a sensible and moral path forward on this issue? Also, it turns out that in Califormia’s community college system -- the...

This Week: The UC system mulls joining a number of elite universities around the country that have brought back the SAT/ACT testing requirements that went by the wayside during the pandemic. Citing examples of professors having to reteach middle school level math to undergrads, regardless of where you stand on testing, this feels like a canary in the mine shaft kind of moment. At the same time, AI use in higher ed is totally out of control, with some professors resorting to invasive surveillance strategies to curtail its use. AI detection programs can be helpful, but also yield...

Today on AOTA Shorts: Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on much these days.  Except, apparently, what it means to be a good teacher. Researchers at Arizona State and CSU East Bay have published fascinating new data showing that actually, Ds and Rs show striking alignment on the features of a good teacher, including caring about students, making learning relevant, and helping students with supports that meet their individual needs. This yet again raises the question of why so few of those core elements of good teaching exist in any meaningful way within our state and national level discussions abo...

Today on AOTA Shorts: Gov. Ron Desantis is at it again, ensuring his state continues to lead the way on the most draconian and fascist education policies on the books. Florida has now unleashed its new suite of accelerated courses known as FACT - Florida Advanced Courses and Tests. The US History course aspires to challenge the College Board’s AP US History course, by pushing a decidedly biased curriculum, rooted in fundamental lies and mythology about America. American exceptionalism, seeing things like slavery and indigenous genocide and displacement as “aberrations from an otherwise admirable story,” and advocating students read t...

Today on AOTA Shorts: The learning loss hawks are back, maybe, and this time with new data. Almost everywhere in America students are performing worse than their peers were 10 years ago according to new data from the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford. From 2015-2025 the trend holds for nearly all demographic groups. Wealthy and poor districts, racial groups, students with special needs. It’s a disturbing trend, with exacerbating effects for the most marginalized. And, there could be many factors at play in that window of time, including the end of NCLB, the rise of smart phones, the COVID pa...

Today on AOTA Shorts: A ⁠new study⁠ from researchers at Stanford, Duke, Michigan, and Penn that analyzes data from Yondr, the makers of cell phone pouches used in many districts with new phone restrictions, shows mixed results, depending on how you look at the data. Big picture, the bans work to dramatically reduce phone usage during the school day. But data regarding improvements in discipline, student well being, and academic achievement is either lagging, or minimal at this point. But, some of the data shows us what we’d expect -- kids initially push back against the bans, but then s...

This Week: As the cost of living skyrockets in America, the dissatisfaction with the American-Israeli wars in Palestine and Iran grows. But what doesn’t get discussed is the effect of these wars on their children and schools. In Gaza a scholasticide has resulted in the obliteration of nearly every school, the deaths of 17,000+ students, and over 700 teachers and faculty. In Iran, many students are getting only 2 hours of online school a day, as fear and trauma grip families amidst bombings and destruction. Also, as the utter insanity of right wing book bans cools to some degree, we check in...

This Week: The board of the nation’s 2nd largest school district unanimously approved a resolution to place strong limits on screen time for students starting in the 26-27 school year. Citing extensive research showing the negative consequences of too much screen time on everything from vision, to engagement, to mental health, the district’s policy will have a sliding scale of maximum screen time, from 0 minutes for the youngest students to greater amounts as students get older. This may be good news for the growing number of parents who see screen time as concerning, and teachers who are stru...

This Week: In what could be a landscape shifting class action lawsuit, parents sue Curriculum Associates, maker of iReady, alleging privacy concerns, lack of parental consent for collection and use of data, and potentially scandalous use of student data profiles for profit. Sounds scary, and to be clear, we should treat ed tech with deep scrutiny. But, but does the case hold water? Plus, in the latest move to institutionalize white, christian nationalist patriarchy, a growing number of states are now telling schools to teach the “Success Sequence.” This approach advocates students graduate from high school, get a full time...

This Week: In a stunning 8-1 decision this week the US Supreme Court overturns a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for minors. Using the first amendment as a shield for hateful, Christian nationalist bigotry against LGBTQ people, the court says the state can no longer regulate a licensed mental health provider’s “free speech” by providing talk-based conversion therapy. Only Justice Jackson came through on the side of righteousness on this one. Plus, grade inflation has been an issue for decades now, but attention on this issue is heightening as frustration mounts from all corners. GPAs are higher than ever...

This Week: The legacy of Cesar Chavez is forever tarnished following the revelation of rape and sexual abuse allegations. As communities quickly (and rightly) pivot to centering the farmworkers movement instead of Chavez, there are at least 40 schools across CA named in his honor, along with numerous statues, murals, and awards bearing his legacy. Where do schools go from here? Plus, we weave together a few stories about the devastating effects our tech overlords are having on the nation’s children. In Los Angeles, a jury sets new precedent by handing down $6M in damages against Instagram and YouTube as...

Today on AOTA Shorts: The State of Oregon is one of just a few in the country that doesn't mandate a specific number of school days each year, and over ⅓ of their school districts have gone down to a 4 day school week. Proponents of mandating more school for Oregon youth argue this is the driving force behind Oregon’s dismal performance on the most recent NAEP.  And, they argue, that the aggregate effect of the shorter school weeks and shorter school years, can mean students miss out on a full year of instruction by the time they graduate. But, not a...

Today on AOTA Shorts: A new paper from researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Chicago shows evidence that parents place greater credibility in what their children’s grades say about their academic performance than they do test scores. But the researchers raise concerns that this could be inadvertently resulting in parents missing key data about their student’s struggles in school. Citing rampant grade inflation, and frequent mismatches between grades and more rigorous standardized test scores, they advocate parents place more credibility on tests as an indicator or performance. But are the parents right? And in an e...

Today on AOTA Shorts: On March 2nd, the Supreme Court issued a ruling, ostensibly from the Court’s 6 conservative justices, that overturns a California policy which prevented educators from outing trans students, or students exploring their gender identity to their families without the student’s consent. The case is admittedly complex, pitting parents’ rights to be informed about their child, their right to free exercise of religion, and their right to equal protection of the laws, against the welfare of children and educators’ own rights to free exercise of religion. Figuring out the right decision on this one is gonna be...

This Week: First, bombshell news out of LAUSD this week as Supt Alberto Carvalho was placed on paid leave after his home and office were raided by the FBI. Not much has been made public yet, but speculation is that the raid may be tied to Carvalho’s role in the failed investment in an AI chatbot during his time as head of schools in both LA and Miami. Then, our main story today tackles the growing number of districts where teachers are authorizing strikes. The California Teacher Association (CTA) claims ⅓ of their members are living check to check, with...

This Week: We got a lot to cover this week! Students across the country are seizing the moment by engaging in the democratic process and walking out of school in protest of DHS terrorism. But the pushback is here. In LA the cops are telling kids to get back on campus, and in Texas the governor is going as far as threatening districts with state takeover where kids walk out. Also, the cartoon villains over at the Heritage Foundation published their call to arms to all hatemongers to fight to overturn the Plyler v Doe decision, which granted the...

This Week: First, we have some updates on Liam Ramos and some of his classmates who were used as bait, kidnapped, and sent to a concentration camp in Texas where there’s now a measles outbreak. Thankfully a federal judge issued a scathing ruling against the fascist Trump regime and freed Liam and his father, though some of his classmates still remain imprisoned.  And we discuss Manuel’s students joining students across the country in walking out from school to protest ICE and DHS terrorism.  Then we get into a fascinating story raising the question of whether or not second...

Please Join us in supporting one of Manuel's students whose world was turned upside down this week when her father was detained by ICE. Click here for the GoFundMe. 

This Week: While the harm has, to a significant extent, already been done, there was an important legal victory in the fight against the white supremacist, fascist effort to destroy public education. A lawsuit brought by the AFT and others last summer resulted in a federal judge declaring the administration’s attempt to outlaw “illegal discrimination” against white people, and requiring that districts and universities certify...

This Week: With the tragic murder of Renee Nicole Good by masked ICE agents in Minneapolis this week, and the chaotic, violent confrontation between Border Patrol and students and educators outside Roosevelt High School, it has been quite a week in the city of lakes. The Minneapolis Public Schools closed schools for the remainder of the week, and are now allowing families to opt into remote learning for the next month to escape the violence, fear, and chaos being caused by these DHS terrorists. To get some on-the-ground perspective on what this means for school communities, we’re joined by...

Today on AOTA Shorts: In what can only be described as silicon valley’s educational wet dream, the Alpha School expands its footprint across the nation. The private school, which packs a $75K/year price tag, touts its ability to have kids learn twice as much in just 2 hours of AI based “instruction” per day. And contrary to what you might expect, the school claims its guides (the adults who work there rather than teachers) offer a more humane environment than traditional schools. And, as the Alpha School eyes expansion to Palo Alto, just down the road, computer science gradua...

Today on AOTA Shorts: Fulfilling her mandate as cartoon villain Attorney General, Pam Bondi effectively gutted what little civil rights infrastructure remains in the United States declaring that the use of data to prove discriminatory impact of policy is now a violation of federal law. Claiming that the long-standing rule which allowed the federal government to hold states, cities, and private entities accountable for upholding structural racism does not “sufficiently serve the public interest,” Bondi is paving the way for a rash of racist policies to flow freely from the most right wing areas of the country, and the more...

This Week: One one hand, it is shocking to think about, and on the other hand it’s just a continuation of America's long-standing tradition of white folks in power hurting themselves in the never ending effort to oppress others even more. The latest casualty of the anti DEI hysteria is stacking up to be men, and in particular white men. Women now occupy around 60% of all seats in college, and for many years now - in particular at the nation’s most selective colleges - affirmative action efforts have been underway to ensure gender balance in the freshman clas...

This Week: We’re diving into two higher ed topics this week.  First, the University of Alabama suspends and cuts funding for two student magazines, one called Nineteen Fifty-Six, which centers Black voices and experience, and the other called Alice, which is a fashion and wellness magazine that focuses on women. Citing the Trump admin’s anti DEI hysteria and Alabama’s anti DEI law, the University says it’s complying with the law and upholding free speech, almost as if Orwell himself had written the script.  Also, we dig into shocking news about the rise in disability accommodations, particular...